Friday, December 21, 2012

Calling Cards ... more ...

Thank you Travis Simpkins for your info about these. It's so interesting I had to share: 
"From the photos, they certainly look like blank calling cards. Calling cards were used during the entirety of the 19th Century. Your cards appear to have a bit of acid in the paper, so they'd be from the latter part... 1880's - 1890's. The ladies' attire would fit into that period as well. They might've been part of a "season appropriate" set, with these ones showing Winter. Are the others all the same? The colors still maintain their intensity because they were most likely printed by way of chromolithography, a time consuming method in which each color is printed separately and allowed to dry before moving on to the next color. The resulting images are very vivid." 

If these were indeed printed via chromolithography, it is pretty amazing because the images are so tiny - about 1" squared - seems like it would require a pretty meticulous hand! The paper is getting some brown spots on it - mold perhaps? I'm wondering what is the best way to preserve them. 



Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Calling Cards

I bought a set of about 20 of these cards at an antique store over twenty years ago. I think they're old fashioned calling cards, but I'm not sure. I've never done any research on them but I'd like to. I'd love to know what era they come from. They're about the size of business cards. The paper is a very heavy stock, and each one is printed (or hand painted?) in the most brilliant, saturated colors. 




Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Worcester Magazine Comic

I took some time out from other projects to do this piece for Worcester Mag's "Year in Review" top stories of 2012 comics issue. I was assigned the opening of Worcester's public skating rink, the Common Oval, so named because it's on the city common, but an odd choice, no? It sounds vaguely medical. 

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Clean vs. Dirty

We were putting post-it notes on the dishwasher to indicate when the dishes are clean vs. dirty.  Then one day, "dirty" was replaced with "kinda filthy," and from there we've been surprising each other with new synonyms. "Dirty" are on the left, and "clean" on the right (natch).

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Monday, November 5, 2012

Paul Coker is Awesome

Paul Coker illustrated for Mad Magazine and Rankin Bass productions and I've loved his work since childhood. I love how he illustrates people's emotional states in such a zany way. I also love how he draws backgrounds and objects in a style that's very free, almost childlike...I really struggle with drawing backgrounds and objects and am trying to get better at it so it's really nice to find a style that I want to emulate. 



Monday, October 29, 2012

All the Leaves...

They'll soon be gone...what with all the hurricanes we're having in New England (((sniff))). They sure were extra brilliant this year. So many shades of red, orange, and yellow. Some were almost pink (like a saturated salmon-y color). These are some that I picked on a recent walk... 




Tuesday, October 23, 2012

24 Hour Comic Challenge at WAM

These are photos I took at Worcester Art Museum's 24 hour comic challenge this past Saturday. I arrived at the start and stayed for 8 hours. I finished 3 pages of a larger piece I'll continue to work on, so I didn't stay true to the 1-page-per-hour challenge, but that wasn't really my goal. I just wanted to put in a solid work day, away from the distractions of my studio. And the WAM 24-hour challenge provided just that. It was wonderful to be holed up with other comic artists and pals, working quietly away all day...
The assembly line.

Famed comic artist and pal Jim Riel was there!

Intensely and quietly focused.

Congrats to all that completed the challenge! 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Film Pick - La Grande Bouffe

I saw this film a few years ago and decided to re-watch it again. I was reminded of it by wondering how those Top Chef judges can eat like seven meals in a row. La Grande Bouffe is an interesting and very silly film about food and other types of indulgence. A group of friends get together for their annual cooking and eating extravaganza. Despite the really gross parts - which are actually pretty funny - the amount of food and the variety of decadent dishes they create is pretty amazing.  

Look at that cake! ...

Monday, October 15, 2012

Top Chef vs. Project Runway

I'm a huge Project Runway addict and fan. I love watching the creative process in action, and seeing how the designers solve problems under extreme time and other constraints. But I didn't think I was going to be able to get into Top Chef, because, well, ... I've never been a huge fan of cooking shows. Also, in Project Runway, the viewer and the judges basically share the ability to see and therefore evaluate the garments. But with Top Chef, viewers obviously don't get to taste the food, so I just didn't get how that could work as a televised competition. But it does! The challenges are so creative and it's fun to get to know the different chefs. I like that they're generally a little dorky, and more focused on their craft than on being drama queens and tv personalities. 
Funnily enough, it did take me a while to get used to Padma's manner of speaking. She's so beautiful but then she'd open her mouth and it was like listening to a brainwashed robot on ludes. But I don't even notice it now.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

K it's Fall

Some photos from a recent stroll whilst visiting some friends in Milton Mass...
Blurry foliage...
Totally!...
 
The power of "Game Well," whatever it is (?)... I think this was an old timey mailbox... 
Happy Fall!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

More Mushroom Sketches

More rough character sketches for Ms. Charmaine Mushroom. I liked the top middle one but I didn't go with this design because I wasn't sure that she read 'mushroom' loud and clear. 


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Can't make up my mushroom mind

Here's one of a billion character sketches I did for one of my Sexy Vegetables(TM), Ms. Charmaine Mushroom. Mushrooms are a challenging vegetable because there are so many varieties that are interesting to draw but then, how do you make them sexy? This isn't the model I went with but now I'm thinking I like it and might change it back. 


Monday, October 8, 2012

Glass Menagerie

I've been busier than a bumble bee of late and have fallen off the bloggage. I'm cranking out the Sexy Vegetable characters and will post more updates about that later. For now, here's a few glass animals from my childhood collection! Rabbit's ear broke off and you can see where my dad glued it back on.  

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Late Summer

It's Fall I know... but my summer flowers are still going strong! This sole purple one bloomed a couple of weeks ago. We had many of them in early summer but this one procrastinated til now... 






Sunday, September 30, 2012

Project Update

I'm finishing up a piece featuring Sexy Vegetable(TM), the delicious and nutritious Caressa Carrot. These photos are of one corner of the pencil sketch before inking. 
Caressa's hangin' out under an ivy-covered arbor.
Inking the ivy was a little tedious...  
 
Caressa has a little rabbit friend!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Survey - Which of these buns is your favorite?

Please use the voting buttons at the right to make your selection. As always, voting is safe and anonymous. 

Monday, September 24, 2012

Great Tips from Your Hairdo

A few excerpts from THE most informative hairdo resource, Your Hairdo (see yesterday's post)...

YES! And I'm cross-eyed!
"Special" as in...
Get ready for an existential crisis...
Quiz:
OH! I KNOW THIS! It's b!
Wiglets?

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Your Hairdo

Creepy photo collage I made from this hilarious book, Your Hairdo, published in 1966. 
Can you believe they could cover this topic in only 156 pages? 
(which includes a glossary and index)
 From the good people at Scholastic Book Services!